Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

The Good
- The first half part of the story
- Game mechanics
- The soundtrack is very, very well done
- Engaging atmosphere
- Impressive amount of content even though the game maps are much smaller than Human Revolution
- Voice acting
- Graphics

The Bad
- The game ends way too abruptly
- Game areas are limited and not really big
- Story leaves much things to be desired

The Bottom Line
Following the applauded Human Revolution in 2011, Deus Ex Mankind Divided delivers more of what made the "new" Deus Ex great, but also has its shortcomings.

The story continues 2 years after the aug incident which happened at the end of Human Revolution. The divide between normal people and augmented are tense and certain regulations are put in place to keep it anything like the "incident" from happening again. Augmented are required to show proper certification, and those that don't get shipped off to a hell-hole called Golem City or "Utulek Compound" as it was originally called. We meet Adam Jensen, now living in Prague, and this time working at Interpol through Task Force 29, a shadowy corporation that aims to take out evil where regular state police fall short.

Of course, the initial setup screams for corruption and there's plenty to be had. There's a blurred line between "Police" and gangster and more than often do you have to act upon it. The game will throw you curve balls making you question if those decisions you did actually were the right ones. Were she or he a bad guy or some one trying to uphold law even when it was corrupt. If there's one thing Mankind Divided manages to deliver, it's this. The constant "what if" scenarios of a civilization in turmoil and chaos. As with its prequel, some choices are not apparent until later in the game.

As for the story itself, it's a deep, serious and political ride that will take you from Dubai and Prague to the Alps and beyond. I've played a lot of games through the years, but some of the twists this game manages to make are very surprising. It continues the legacy from previous games [spoiler]and even keep the original bad guys like Bob Page in the game,[/spoiler] making for a interesting premise of a super power that has existed for a long time through many games.

Augmentations are the centerpiece of any Deus Ex game and this is no exception. This time around there are some new ones as well, like icarus dash, tesla guns and nano blades. They're all very entertaining to use, but you can only map up to five at a time (middle mouse button + F1->F4) which is at times counter productive. You're forced to select the four to five things you're most likely going to use. Remapping in the middle of a battle is not too tedious, but is error prone. For those aiming for the ghost achievement (don't se off any alarms), you absolutely need to be prepared for anything to get out of a tricky situation. Changing you augment hotkeys in the thick of things is NOT a priority!

While speaking of things that suck, Mankind Divided has gotten critique for having in-game paid DLC that are a one-time use. For instance, pay 1$ for 1 Praxis kit or get a specially skinned weapon. Myself I have no issues here, as you just can skip all of this. You don't have to pay anything, just play the game. On the other hand, some argue it hampered the game as it was a tacked on in the final stages of development, stressing the dev teams. I can't say wether or not that is true, but for the game itself, it doesn't show lack of polish.

For the most part Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is overall a very enjoyable game, but hampered by some characters being too shallow and some missions require you to travel back and forth between levels. For most of time you'll be spending it in two city areas of Prague, which are actually quite small. You are required to take a train between them, which is annoying. Why weren't these areas merged? It makes no sense. As for scale, the city is usually only half of what you see. I'd say at least 70% of Deus Ex is what you DON'T see. There are loads of hidden paths, secret compartments and corridors that will take you all around the city. After hacking a ton of computers and read my weight in emails I can safely say that there are a lot of doors and access points just waiting to be opened. In general if you see a ventilation shaft, jump in. It'll most likely send you some place useful.

Depending on how you play Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, it'll take you anything from 15 to 20 hours to complete. However, if you want to check out most of the paths (both those you see and don't) and read up on the universe by computers you hack and pocket secretaries you find, multiply it by at least 3. There's a lot of content here, even if the main levels are not that big. Thankfully, the game mixes up levels by sending you out of Prague now and then, allowing for a pleasant change of scenery.

Speaking of scenery, the game looks incredibly beautiful, even when not set to max. The very first level is a testament to this, with huge vistas, broken down hotels and even cloth physics (it's an option)! Sea gulls, distant effects like traffic and helicopters that fly by all just come to show that this team has put in tons of effort. Voice actors and sound track are also top notch, with Elias Toufexis returning as Adam Jensen that I swear thought was Timothy Olyphant all this time. He's made a believable and authorative figure that'll stick with you - Adam Jensen is just awesome.

If you're willing to dive into one of this year's greatest FPS adventures Deus Ex: Mankind Divided will for the most part satisfy. Well, until the end that will leave you hanging and craving for more. The ending is a bit let down, it ends too abruptly which is a shame and puts a dent into experience as a whole. We need to get a hold of those people behind the scenes, dammit!

Guess we'll all just have to wait until the next Deus Ex game for that.

Rating: 8/10 - "Must play"